Willing to Risk It
by Nasima Al Amreeki
Summary: Draco Malfoy is starting his life over again with the help of people from his past. Focuses on both Draco and Hermione.


**Disclaimer: I do not the series Harry Potter, which is penned by J.. The characters from the novels all belong to her. These ideas are purely mine and any resemblance to fictional or real persons is unintended.**

Willing to Risk It

Chapter 1

Things had changed these year for Draco. If people were to look at the young Malfoy, most would not be able to look past the mark that burned his porcelain skin. He resented his foolishness in doing what he had done to please his father. Because, none of that seemed to matter at all now. He just wanted to escape, to leave his mishaps behind and start over. He could not though, he would always have that souvenir of what he had done, who he had been.

He had tried to cut it out, so no one could say that he still had it from lack of trying. They had to take the stone that he had used to slice into his skin with, for they thought he was trying to murder himself. Oh, if they only knew. He looked down at his arm. Beneath the dirt and bruises that he had contracted over the year, he could see the faint, pink lines, which had once glowed with the infection that once thrived on his skin. If one had been ignorant of his thoughts, as most were, they would have imagined that he was trying to frame the mark with thorns. Yet, no one knew what went through his brain. They did not know that those marks represented a gate that was locked, a barrier between the relinquish of his life before and who he could be now.

"Mr. Malfoy," the minister spoke behind his podium, looking high and mighty. Draco looked up, meeting the eyes of the muggleborn. Years ago, Draco would have never of met the eyes of someone of his birth, but now he was pleading with them. He was dying for them to show some other emotion other than the monotone expression they now beheld. The years had humbled him, now he felt like the spit on the feet of the persons he himself would hold his head high to, the people his father had drilled insults for into his head. He wondered if they knew that he had no more insults to give. He hoped they did, but the glares of disgusted drowned the hope he had wished for, prayed for, into a well so deep no person, nor animal could find the bottom of.

"You are here to appeal your imprisonment in Azkaban, am I correct?" He looked through the top of his eyes, as if he were looking at him above his imaginary spectacles. Draco spoke a 'yes sir,' though he doubted anyone in the court had heard him, only registered that his lips had moved. Draco would not of even known that it was his voice if he had not known that his mouth had moved. He had so been out of practice with natural human noises that everything around him that sounded like an orchestra.

"And you were committed of..."

"Being a member of You-Know-Who's army," he voice was growing stronger, once his brain got the message that this hearing decided his fate.

"Ah," the minister spoke with utmost precision. Draco had heard that the minister was a man of few words, as it seemed to him, he was also a man of few emotions. He might possibly just act this way to the men and woman who, just a few short years ago, had wanted him extinct. Both seemed likely, although the latter was much more plausible.

"Well, I am sure that it has been made known to you that the court has reviewed your case, along with many others just like it. We will take a 10 minute recess to take into account what your lawyer has given us." He struck his gavel and he and the jury walked out of the room.

Draco scanned the room, looking for familiar, friendly faces. He saw Blaise, his mate from school, sitting there, looking up him. He smiled at Draco, but Draco could only manage a nod, for his lips weren't able to go up. His eyes then moved to the group of friends sitting closest to the seats that they jury had once been in. There they were: Potter, Weasley, Weasley-ette, and Granger. There they were, sitting there, staring at him. He couldn't decipher what look they were giving him. Weasley kept looking at Granger, as if he was scared for her. Potter and Weasley-ette had almost the same expression, only it was altered. What was the look that was added to their eyes? Happiness? Acceptance? Draco couldn't decide.

His eyes then moved to Granger. There was a time where he would not of been able to make his eyes move down the row to the muggleborn. He would have insulted her friends before it was even possible for her to grab his attention. She was the only one in the group who didn't seem worried. Was she not thinking of what was passing here? Did she want him to spend the rest of his life in that Hell? Somehow, the outcome of this event did now seem to worry her. Granger was confident, as he had remembered her always being, of the result of this case, in the result of his life. Draco spent the rest of the recess trying to decipher their facials, but never decided on what they were showing.

"Order in the court," the minister announced, banging his gavel one again on the mahogany. "Mr. Draco Malfoy. You have been tried before an unbiased court of the Ministry and spectators for an appeal of your conviction from the 7h of January in the year 2007 of 'being a supporter and activist for You-Know-Who.' Do you deny this?"

"No,"

"Very well, we have gone over all the evidence and have come to a verdict of," Silence. Draco's life depended on the next words out of the speaker's mouth. The vulnerability that he had was unbearable. One man held the rest of his life in his hands, power Draco never knew existed.

"not guilty. We will release you upon the understanding that you must serve 7200 hours of community service. You will check in with the Ministry every week for the next year. After that we will reassess your file and determine where you will go from there. You are forbidden to leave the magical world unless accompanied by an approved person from the Ministry along with your wand being removed from you. You will be given your papers and wand before you leave at the discharge window. Enjoy your freedom Mr. Malfoy," the minister had no sign of emotion in his entire speech. Draco, though, saw a smile spread on his best mate's face when the verdict was announced.

He couldn't believe it, he was free. He could go home, or what was left of his home. He got up from the chair he had been imprisoned in and took a step. Then he took another step. His first two steps as a free man. He felt good, as if some of his burden had been lifted. He still felt the weight of what he had seen while he had been gone for those 4 years. Exactly four years he had been a prisoner of his own mind, his own nightmares, his own fears. He soon came to terms with his conviction and learned to not be haunted by his past. He left it behind there, but now it was starting to reappear, now that he could think without the terrifying emotions from the dementors controlling his mind. He had to learn how to deal with them again and with the actual reality of talking to people, his goal started to seem more and more implausible.

Malfoy was led out of the room and to the discharge desk where his belongings were issued, as promised. Most seemed less than happy to see him walking past him, others didn't seem to realise who he was. He couldn't blame them, he hadn't seen a razor or a brush since he was tried. He must be sight for sore eyes. Suddenly, he was at the door, the trail to it being second nature because of his walks through the halls that he would make with his father and occasionally his mother. His mother. His loving, abused mother. He couldn't think about her, not now, not any-time.

The sun was bright. The streets were busy. Things looked so... rum. Yet, they seemed so familiar to him, as if he had never suffered in the dark as he did.

"Draco!" a voice called out for him. He couldn't recall the last time a female had said his name, the last time a gentle voice had said his name. He searched for the origin of the voice, finally tracing it back to the girl, nay woman who he had been so intrigued with not too long ago.

"Draco! I thought we would never catch up to you!" Her face was of a red colour, most likely from the same cause that made her breathing heavier then it should be, from running to find him. Wait, we, she had said we. A look of confusion crossed his face, then as soon as it came, it went, realization now filling his face, or as much as his thawing features would allow. Draco looked to see her joined by none other than the other members of the trio and and the Golden Boy's girlfriend.

Hermione was whispering to a child, a child he had never seen before. He was holding Potter's hand, but he didn't show any resemblance to him or his partner.

"Come here," she whispered. The child moved closer, eyeing Draco cautiously. Draco was just as sketchy of the boy.

"Draco, this is your cousin, Teddy Lupin," she spoke to Draco, then to Teddy in a softer, more excited voice, "Teddy, this is your cousin, Draco."

"Couisin," the child said, the word obviously foreign to his lips. The word was just as foreign to Draco, it being a word that was never used in his vocabulary except for some rare occasions.

"'Arry!" the child said, turning to Harry, putting up his arms. Harry, obligingly, picked the boy up, "I'm 'ungry!" The child blatantly was still having issues with his aitches, something that Granger wasted no time correcting him on.

"Hermione, lighten up! Don't give him a school lesson right now!" Weasley complained. Granger looked at Weasley, clearly pondering if she should continue with her teachings or follow her friend's advice.

"Fine," she resolved, "why do not you four go find some food," Her wording made the sentence seem like a question, but the voice she used and the expression on her face indicated that it was a statement, or a command, rather than a recommendation.

The four of them left and then Draco found himself alone with his former enemy. His rivalry with the woman seemed of little importance now. He couldn't believe how childish he had been to her, he wanted to apologize, but the words didn't seem to make it out of his mouth before his mind was done saying them.

"Well, Draco. Will you say anything?" Granger had an expression on her face, an expression that he never remembered crossing her features since he met her 1st year, it was a look of doubt.

She began to fiddle with her hands, averting her eyes from his after a few minutes of silence. He was going to open his mouth to speak, but that was when she began to address him.

"I thought maybe you would like to clean up and then go get a meal? I imagine there must be some food that you would rather enjoy right now. I also have an extra room that you can stay in until you find your footing again," another pause, "It has a nice few of the country, nice and quaint. Not too far from the city. It is a modest home and it is most-likely not to the standard of living that you had growing up, but it is not too modest. It is a nice home," more silence, "You will not have to see much of me, the house is large enough that we could go on with our days without seeing each other more than thrice."

This time Granger remained quiet. Her fiddling continued with her fingers, moving from her hair, to her shirt, then to her skirt. She seemed to keep her eyes away from his.

Draco just looked at the Griffindor, his expression neither harsh nor kind. He was trying to understand her. She was different somehow, she looked more mature, which was to be expected of someone who had grown. Yet, she looked like she had been to the end of the world and back, giving her a distinguished look from the rest of her sex that were walking past them. Yet, she still had a youthful look of someone only 21.

"It was foolish of me to ask was it not? I see that now. You probably do not want to spend your first few days back with me," she spoke with such carelessness, as if he had just been gone for a holiday and now had returned, "I asked your friend Blaise if he would like to join us for dinner, he was the one that recommended _La Version Révisée,_ he thought that you would really enjoy the food and it might help you start to get in better spirits. But why would you want to spend your time with me? I mean, we barely even known each other except for the insults that we threw at each other during our years at Hogwarts, I am sorry for that punch by the way. I will send Blaise an owl as soon as I return home and tell him that it will just be you and him at dinner, I am sure he would be able to pick you up at your home." She, against all things natural, had managed to say the entire last part of he speech in a single breath. As her chest moved up and down from her heavy breathing, she started to turn away. Draco managed to find his voice before she left.

"Granger," she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his for the first time in minutes, "thank you for your offer. I would like to accept it, if the offer still stands."

A smile spread across her face, "Of course it still stands! We can stop by a shop to get you some clothes to change into, you have probably outgrown all of yours. We can also get you some toiletries so you can take a nice shower. We have reservations for 7 o'clock so that gives us around 4 hours to get ready."

With that, the pair set off. Both of them taking on a new life, a life that neither one knew the outcome of, but were willing to risk it anyway.

**Author's note:**

**I have, yet again, started the attempt of writing a story for you all to enjoy. However, for those of you who have read my stories before you know this, for those who have not, I am not very good at updating, in fact sometimes I abandon a story all together. Hence, I have decided that most chapters of this story will have endings similar to this, giving enough satisfaction that you can imagine the rest of the narrative, just in case history repeats itself, as it tends to do. **

**I continue to appreciate any comments/ critic/ suggestions you may have on my writing, the plot, realationships, &c so please feel free to review. I am still very aware, however, that I miss many things when I proof read, so if you could call me out on them so I can go back in and fix it for other readers that is also appreciated.**

**Until next time,**

**Meg**


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